U.S. Army gets green

The U.S. Army has accepted delivery of the world’s first fuel-cell-powered military truck—a modified Chevrolet Silverado—at the General Motors Corp. research facility outside Rochester, NY.

The Silverado, or GMT 800, is equipped with two 94-kw fuel-cell stacks and produces similar performance to GM’s V-8 production engine at 317 lbs-ft torque. The light weighs 7,500 lbs but accelerates similarly to its V-8 cousin and produces no tailpipe emissions, said the Army. Three 10,000-lb-sq-in compressed hydrogen storage tanks will provide a driving range of 125 mi.

The Army will evaluate the experimental truck until July 2006 at Fort Belvoir, VA. It will serve in “non-tactical” operations while under evaluation and will not be used in ongoing operations.